Download The best way to lose fat

The best way to lose fat
Honestly, if you are tired of being overweight and "soft," or if you desperately
just want to develop your "six pack," then you must educate yourself and get
serious about changing your body. It has to become a priority in your life (at
least until you reach your goal). There are no quick fixes, however if you use
the right information, you will be able to make dramatic changes to your
physical appearance in a very short period of time.
For the last few years, I have been researching ways to gain muscle and lose
body fat. During that period of trial and error, I have learned to follow those
who have been successful and losing fat and gaining muscle.
Natural bodybuilders have been successful in losing bodyfat while
maintaining their muscle mass for years. Their techniques work, plain and
simple!
"Smart" Dieting
All bodybuilders know that the first key to gaining muscle and losing fat is
eating correctly. When I say eating correctly I mean not only the correct
amount of calories, but the correct amount of protein, fat and carbohydrates
taken at the correct times. In the past, I would just skip over this part. It
seemed too difficult to grasp. That was a mistake. Your diet is the single most
important element of a successful fat loss program. It should be geared to
maximize fat loss, while minimizing any muscle loss. Here are a few key
points to remember:
EAT MORE OFTEN
To lose fat you have to eat! DO NOT starve yourself. Your body is designed
for survival, and part of it's survival mechanism involves storing and holding
onto bodyfat to be used in times of food shortages. If you make it a habit of
not eating, or eating only a small amount of calories each day, eventually your
body will think that you are in a time of famine a begin to slow your
metabolism. Your body is just trying to conserve energy (calories) because it
is getting so little nourishment.
Your metabolism determines the rate at which your body burns calories, so if
you have a fast metabolism, you will burn a lot of calories without much effort.
If you have a slow metabolism, it will be very difficult to burn calories —
especially fat calories. Your body will always slow your metabolism in
response to low calorie dieting.
To avoid this, you simply must eat. Unfortunately, eating three meals per day
will not cut it! It does not provide your body with the constant flow of nutrients
and energy it needs increase your metabolism and burn fat. Ideally, you
should strive to eat 5-6 meals evenly spaced throughout the day.
Here is an example of my fat loss diet schedule:
Time
8 am
9 am
10:30 am
1:30 pm
4:30 pm
7:30 pm
10:30 pm
Meal
Whey protein powder, vitamin C (1,000mg)
Workout
Meal [egg white omlette] with Glutamine, and vitamin C
Meal 3 [5oz chicken breast, 1 cup of brown rice, small salad]
Meal 4 [snack]
Meal 5 [6oz of tuna, 1 cup of vegetables]
Whey protein powder, vitamin C and Glutamine
EAT FEWER CALORIES
Your diet should create a mild caloric deficit. In other words, your body should
burn off more calories than you take in. After your body has used all the food
calories for energy, it should (in theory) turn to using your fat cells for energy.
However, as I stated earlier regarding fad diets, this is not always the case.
Without resistance training to stimulate muscle growth, and diet manipulation
to prevent muscle loss, your body will turn to using muscle cells for energy
instead of fat cells!
Anyone interested in losing bodyfat, should begin by eating around 10-12x
their bodyweight in calories.
Eating six meals each day, weight training and cardio will help to increase
your metabolism. Because of this, everyone will have an initial loss of weight,
and then the results will begin to taper off after a couple of months. What you
must do it stick with the diet and be consistent. The fat will begin to come off
again if you do not quit.
After about 6-8 weeks you will have to change your program since your body
will have adjusted itself to the calorie levels and it will have also made the diet
much less effective by slowing your metabolism. This is where cycling your
diet will be beneficial.
EAT MORE PROTEIN
The ideal fat loss diet contains moderate amounts of fats, moderate amounts
of carbohydrates and large amounts of protein. Protein helps to build and
repair muscle, and it also aids in increasing your metabolism and enhancing
your immune system.
To promote maximum muscle growth and repair, you should try to eat at least
1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Some good sources of protein are
lean meats, egg whites, whey protein and soy protein isolate.
I recommend starting with a diet that is around 40% protein.
Many of you may worry that this amount of protein is too much or harmful.
And I understand your concerns. However, since everyone is different (size,
weight, metabolism, physical stresses, lifestyle, etc.) it is almost impossible to
have a standard number. I believe that any amount over 2x your bodyweight
is too much, however, that is a matter of opinion, and so are all of the
answers you will get to this question.
Most doctors will also say that you are eating too much protein. "All that
protein is not necessary", they say. They are however assuming that you are
an average (sedentary) individual. They do not take into account demanding
physical activities like weight training, which put strains and stresses on your
body that the average person does not have to deal with.
It is true that large amounts of protein can put a strain on your kidneys.
Ammonia and urea (waste produced by protein assimilation) are removed
from the bloodstream by the kidneys and liver and excreted in the urine.
When you have a lot of these waste products in your system, your kidneys
will have to work harder to keep your system clean.
There has been no major study on the effects of a high protein diet on
individuals or athletes with healthy kidneys. There was however, a study done
in 1982 with patients who already had kidney problems. The high protein
intake, did of course further degrade their kidney functions.
Those with a history of kidney or liver problems should probably not be on a
high protein diet. If your kidneys cannot efficiently remove any excess
production of ketones from your bloodstream it will increase your blood
acidity, which can lead to other problems. Because your liver is also involved
in the process of metabolizing protein, if it is not functioning properly, high
protein diets can cause further problems due to the added strain.
EAT MORE FAT
Yes, that's right, fat! I know what you are going to say -- "My doctor said that
my cholesterol level is too high and I should eat a low fat. . ." Sound familiar?
You have to understand where your doctor is coming from. Most people in the
medical profession tend to be on the overcautious side. If it's not a fact
among their peers, it will be dismissed by them.
However, many techniques that bodybuilders, weightlifters and athletes use
to gain strength and weight have not been proven the medical community, so
they consider them ineffective. For example, most physicians still argue that
steroids and hormone supplementation does not increase lean body mass,
because there has been no study on this level--but bodybuilders know
differently.
Saturated fats (found in all animal flesh, eggs, some vegetable oils) will raise
your LDL (bad cholesterol) level. This is the stuff that clogs arteries, but
impossible to cut out of your diet completely.
Saturated fats are the cause of many illnesses like heart disease, and cancer,
so beware. However, Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) are unsaturated fats that
are necessary for thousands of biological functions throughout the body.
Since they cannot be manufactured by the body, the must be provided by
your diet.
Essentially, these are the only fats you will ever need. There are two types of
EFA's, they are linoleic acid (omega-6) and linolenic acid (omega-3). Linoleic
acid is primarily found in oils like canola, sunflower and safflower. Linolenic
acid is found in cold water fish. It is also found in linseed oil. Oils that contain
both fats include evening primrose, borage and my favorite, high lignen
flaxseed oil.
These fatty acids not only help increase testosterone production, they aid in
the prevention of muscle breakdown, help to increase your HDL level (good
cholesterol) and assist in hormone production.
Having high cholesterol levels does not mean that you will have coronary or
heart problems in the future. About half the U.S. adult population has total
cholesterol levels less than 200, which is considered desirable. But it is a fact
that just as many heart attacks occur among people with total cholesterol
levels less than 200 mg/dL as occur among individuals with total cholesterol
greater than 300 mg/dL.
To avoid heart or blood vessel problems in the future, it is recommended that
you concentrate on RAISING YOUR HDL levels instead of concentrating on
lowering your total cholesterol.
USE NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS
There is a lot of hype in this industry. Some supplements are a complete
waste of money, but there are also a few great products out there that can
really help you — if you have the correct diet and training program in
place.
The key word here is "supplement". They supplement your existing diet and
training program. If you are not training and eating correctly then they will not
help you. You will be wasting your money! Supplements are not a
substitute for proper nutrition and training.
The supplement that has helped me to lose the most fat has to be whey
protein powder. This product helps me to get my required daily protein
amount without having to eat a lot of animal products like beef or chicken
(though I do eat a lot of chicken). It is also very quick to drink and can be
mixed with a variety of foods or liquids. In this respect, it is much better than
meat or poultry; not to mention far more convenient.
Two other supplements that I advise everyone to use in their program are
Vitamin C and the amino acid L-Glutamine. The vitamin C aids in connective
tissue repair, while the glutamine helped to strengthen my immune system,
maintain cell hydration and protect against muscle breakdown.